Happy Veterans Day to all those who have served their country, including my mother and father!

A client recently came to me concerned over his aggressive (inner) reaction to meetings that he felt were conducted in a confusing and insincere way. An ex-football player, he compared his response to emotions he’d experienced on the field, where he could channel aggression toward defeating his opponent.

In a professional situation we agreed that you can’t always act on your frustrations in the way you would in a team sport. (Particularly if you’re meant to be on the same “team”. 🙂 )

For this client, his aggression manifested through talking too much. Ironically, he also felt unsupported because he was the only one speaking up about concerns he knew others shared. However he knew that if he left space for his teammates, that they might show up and speak about those issues, too.

He felt caught between two personal archetypes that we’d identified before: the warrior (who represented his personal “drive”) and the hermit (who didn’t like being with people but who represented “calm”).

I asked him what the best way was to integrate both of those archetypes at a higher level. We did a brief personalized guided visualization to create a “spiritual warrior” archetype for him. We asked it for advice in this situation.

All of us have tendencies towards two opposing ways of being in the world. Sometimes we fluctuate between extreme reactions to the same situation. A spiritual warrior strives to find the balance point where both reactions and archetypes can manifest in a higher way.

His inner spiritual warrior recommended that he bring a notebook to meetings and record what was said, and his reaction to what was said. My client left the session with a better understanding of his motives, less self-judgment, and a way to honor his reactions and concerns.

If you are feeling torn between two opposing extremes, ask yourself what is the best way to honor all alternatives. Call in your own personal spiritual warrior and ask him or her for advice.